Tuesday Update

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We just put out our second-week video, hope that you enjoy watching it half as much as we enjoyed making it! When the weeks are short it is hard to imagine that so much time has already passed. The video makes this fact stand out in high definition! Such a great place! Such great girls! Thank You So Much!!!

In thinking of what to write about it occurs to me that we should take a moment to talk about the weather. Boring? NO! One of the REALLY great aspects of a camp experience is the weather. Whatever the weather might be! With no climate control (we literally never go inside an air-conditioned space for the entire summer) we experience the world the way our ancestors did a hundred years ago.

When it is hot we are hot, when it is cold we are cold, and when it rains we are wet. Taking away the comfort of air-conditioned spaces connects us to our setting and joins us to each other in a subtle but important way. We don’t always speak of this binding tie, but it is noticed when I give the “weather dog” report every morning. The weather dog is Meme (who celebrated her 13th birthday today) and her reports are notoriously wrong due to the fact that weather in the mountains is pretty much impossible to predict. Rain showers just appear out of nowhere then just as suddenly disappear. We grow to accept what comes… make the best out of the circumstances as they change… and end up loving those moments when we find ourselves stranded in a storm.

This life lesson resonates for a lifetime. Alumnae, returning to camp after a fifty-year break, absolutely love it when a rain shower interrupts their scheduled tour. They invariably recall favorite memories of uncomfortable weather events from their camp days. That time it rained for a week and flooded the pagent court or the time it was so hot that nobody could sleep and they ended up telling jokes and silly stories for hours after taps.

When I go to the beach after the summer, I love to leave all the windows in the car open when approaching the coastline. The hot humid salt-infused air makes my heart soar… I will often leave the car windows open whenever doing errands… it makes me happy to be a little too hot or a little too cold… I think it takes me back to my old camp days. It also makes me deeply appreciate that air-conditioned house!

The only reason this subject comes to mind is that the weather this summer has been so incredible I can’t help but think about it. Apparently, we are under the influence of a big weather pattern that has made part of the country exceptionally hot and part of the country cool. While we are glad to be in the cool part, you should know we would also enjoy the hot summers too. Great Day Attitudes make for happy campers.

One last point about the weather… an old friend always said there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear”. True. A good pair of rain boots is deeply appreciated at camp. Likewise, Chaco’s’s end up being worn so much the resulting “Chaco tan” becomes a badge of honor. I bought a good raincoat to replace the classicly awful Barbour jacket that I wore for over 20 years. I was delighted to discover that it is possible to remain completely dry in the midst of heavy rain. While I loved that old jacket, in hindsight I have to admit that the waxed cotton smelled awful and it did not stay dry in a storm. I kept that old jacket, but now only wear it for warmth (btw, it doesn’t do that very well either). Perfection is not required for love.

My mother used to say: Friendship accepts because, Love accepts despite. True.

One last thing… about tonight’s EP… Movie Night is fantastic. Watching a movie with a bunch of friends who will always laugh out loud and completely get into it is SO MUCH FUN. It is so great we are tempted to do it more often, but will always limit ourselves to one night because there are so many other things that are completely unique to camp. But know this: watching a movie at camp is not like watching a movie at home.

We will have 4 different “theaters” set up showing 4 different movies. The seniors will have the coolest setting, watching a 20-foot screen set up on our Bear Mountain lawn that has a 50-mile view into South Carolina. The lights of Greenville provide a dramatic setting that can not be beaten. All of the girls will love the time together and go to bed late… and we will let them recover with a sleep-late Wednesday tomorrow… which they will also love. Great days indeed.

That’s all… once again TMWDNR (Margaret tells me this is NOT the saying… supposed to be TLDR… Mental Growth).

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